Six aides assisting Cuba's Raul Castro

Six aides assisting Cuba's Raul Castro
Wed 31 Jan 2007 13:39:28 GMT

Jan 31 (Reuters) - The following are profiles of the six top Cuban
officials picked by ailing leader Fidel Castro to assist his brother
Raul as provisional president when he delegated power on July 31. They
are all members of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party.

CARLOS LAGE

Vice President Carlos Lage, 55, is a doctor who in 1993 became the chief
architect of limited economic reforms that allowed small private
businesses and opened Cuba to foreign investment after the demise of
Cuba's benefactor, the Soviet Union. The reforms are credited with
saving Cuba from economic collapse.

Cuba watchers see Lage as a possible future president. Castro put him in
charge of Cuba's energy programs, from saving electricity at home to
cooperating with other countries, mainly chief oil-supplier Venezuela.

MACHADO VENTURA

Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 76, is a hard-line orthodox communist who
heads the Central Committee's organization department. He is responsible
for supervising Cuba's international education programs. He represented
Cuba at the inauguration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in January.

JOSE RAMON BALAGUER

Jose Ramon Balaguer, 74, is minister of health and an old-guard
communist hard-liner. Fidel Castro picked him to run one of his pet
projects, Cuba's international health program, which has sent thousands
of Cuban doctors to work in poor countries and trains foreign medical
students free of charge.

ESTEBAN LAZO

Esteban Lazo, 62, is an economist who heads the Communist Party's
ideology department and was also put in charge of education programs.
Lazo, Cuba's most powerful black leader, headed Cuba's delegation to the
U.N. General Assembly in September.

FRANCISCO SOBERON

Francisco Soberon, 62, is president of Cuba's Central Bank and the
holder of the purse strings to Cuba's state finances. Castro made him
responsible for the funding of the energy, health and education
programs, along with Lage.

PEREZ ROQUE

Felipe Perez Roque, 41, is Cuba's boyish-looking foreign minister and
Castro's former chief of staff. He is said to be the ailing leader's
closest aide. Castro made him responsible for the funding of
international aid programs along with Soberon and Lage.

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